


The Smell of Lilies

by Up_sideand_down



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Slavery, Developing Relationship, F/M, Forgiveness, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-17 04:51:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2297192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Up_sideand_down/pseuds/Up_sideand_down
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sephiroth didn't really want a slave, but he needed one. She becomes the best thing in his life, until his own status threatens their relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Smell of Lilies

**Author's Note:**

> Probably the most angsty thing I have ever written, but I really proud of that. Usually I'm too fluffy. I swear this is the last thing I post on here before I update Raven of SOLIDER. Scout's honor.

He liked to think of himself as entirely self-sufficient. He kept his work, he kept his home, he kept himself. It was all so perfectly balanced and he hadn't needed anything else.   
  
Then one of his keeps became heavier. He couldn't run an entire army in wartime and keep up with his house. He lived rather modestly compared to his peers, but it didn't stop dust, dirt and clutter from following him home. He was slowly approaching a condiment only diet he only heard about from students without work. He lived for two weeks like this until he broke down.   
  
He didn't like the slave market. The sellers were greasy and grabby and their wares were typically worse off, but he didn't have another choice. He wouldn't risk hiring someone in case they were one of his "fans". He liked his possessions and home to remain private and personal thank you very much.   
  
He had been searching for two hours. He was currently arguing with a particularly awful man: out of shape, over-dressed, a ridiculous hairstyle, and he smelled of cigars (all things Sephiroth looked down upon). He did, for the sake of the poor people under his care, take a look at his wares. They were in remarkably decent shape, but Sephiroth knew they had only been cared for so they could be taken to market.   
  
Then he caught sight of one in the back. It was female. Sephiroth had been looking for a male simply because he knew how men operated. She was sitting in the back, looking just as disinterested as he was. It drew his interest. He stepped around them. She looked up at him, then back down. There was a flower at her feet. A mere dandelion.   
  
"What's your name?" Sephiroth asked. She looked back up again.   
  
"Aeris," she said simply, then returned to contemplating her weed.   
  
"I'll take her," Sephiroth said before the seller could argue. Aeris didn't look up until Sephiroth asked her to stand. 

* * *

It was a shaky start. Sephiroth knew from the sort of shape the batch of slaves were in that their main purpose was for entertainment, not work. Aeris's demeanor gave him a spark of hope that she would be content with housework.   
  
Sephiroth gave her simple and specific directions for what he wanted done. Tidy the house, do the laundry, make a few meals. Nothing too terribly difficult, just the things Sephiroth didn't have time for anymore. Aeris nodded and started to work. Thinking that she had it handled, Sephiroth ignored her unless she had questions or concerns. She wasn't stupid, in fact she seemed relatively bright.   
  
It was in the evening that they hit a snag, Aeris came into his bedroom. Sephiroth had set aside a smaller room with a cot for her, wanting nothing to do with her unless it had something to do with his home. He noticed the way she was tugging on her dress. Her face stated clearly that she didn't want to.   
  
"Unless you have a question or are intending to change my sheets I have no use for you," Sephiroth said, "Don't come in here again for this." Aeris seemed shocked by that.   
  
"You don't," Aeris started.   
  
"I have no interest in you besides the duties I already listed out," Sephiroth said, "If I wanted sex there are other places I go to. Now get out. I'm tired." Aeris blinked again, before shaking herself out of it.   
  
"Yes sir," she said backing away, "It won't happen again." And it didn't. She did as she was told and that's all Sephiroth wanted. He could even pretend that she wasn't there and she seemed happy with that. They lived in their own separate spheres, only meeting at meals and evening when they ate and sent to their respective bedrooms. The next time Sephiroth heard Aeris's voice was when she made a small request of her own.   
  
"May I grow a garden sir?" she asked. Sephiroth looked up and stared at her for a moment.   
  
"You have the space for it," she continued.   
  
"I don't care what you do in your spare time," Sephiroth said, "You have my permission."   
  
"Thank you sir," Aeris said. Sephiroth left for a very successful campaign a few days later. He gave Aeris directions for while he was gone, but left his home in her hands. He came back to the same house with a few budding greens near his front door.   
  
He looked at them for a long moment. He'd never cared much for flowers, but they did add a nice touch to his home. He nodded and went in, adding a compliment to Aeris's garden to his typical silence. He caught sight of a brief smile.

* * *

Sephiroth began to find himself comfortable in Aeris's presence. He couldn't help but feel that the feeling was reciprocated on her end. She did smile at him, a small shy little movement of her mouth. Perhaps that was what made him invite her to sit with him during meals instead of waiting until he was finished to have her own. He had never stated that it was explicitly against the rules. She accepted regardless.   
  
Maybe it was that his house felt more open. Not less private, more open. It was as if the outside was seeping in, not his privacy leeching out. It was clean and tidy, but also bright and cozy. He liked it better. Should his life ever become balanced again he would keep Aeris.   
  
Perhaps as a gardener. She was quite good at it. She started with simple plants that were already present. Sephiroth gave her an allowance to use for seeds and she expanded it. He had more than enough space for it and Aeris seemed to like it. It was funny. He couldn't recall quite when he began paying attention to her likes and dislikes.   
  
She had expanded the small bare plot that was around his front door to a pleasant outdoor garden in the back. On a whim he bought himself a second table set and sat outside while Aeris busied herself further in. It gave him a better perspective.   
  
It grew further. They started talking, not directions and questions but full-on conversations. She was rather bright for a slave. She never spoke of her past, but she didn't need to. Sephiroth had a fairly good idea of what had happened. Instead she talked about Sephiroth or the garden. Oddly enough, the garden was interesting.   
  
Aeris's knowledge extended past the action. There was some lore behind flowers and plants, some stood for meanings or feelings. At first, Sephiroth didn't care much about it. But it changed quite simply.   
  
"Lilies usually have something to with beauty," Aeris said, "but it can change with color." After a glance Sephiroth realized he now had a lot of lilies of different colors.   
  
"What does violet mean?" Sephiroth asked. He had a lot of purple flowers, and not just lilies.   
  
"Pride or success," she replied. Sephiroth smiled. It was appropriate if not mildly boastful. He was successful.   
  
"Yellow?" he asked. It was sprinkled here and there. Aeris had cut many of them and put them in a vast within the house.   
  
"Gaiety or happiness." Perhaps that was her secret with the new feeling.   
  
"And orange?" he asked. They dominated the lilies. Aeris blushed.   
  
"Passion," she said. Then she hurried off without another word. Had it been...flirtation?

Sephiroth found he didn't want to reject her. He found himself getting the shears and cutting a few of the bright tiger lilies and placing them in the vase of golden flowers as if trying to say silently that he was happy with passion.   
  
Their lives returned to normal vocally, but Sephiroth now paid closer attention to her quiet musings on flowers. When the yellow and orange withered a fresh vase was laid out with Hydrangeas. They were for gratitude. After that Sephiroth made sure to say that he was grateful for having Aeris with him and not just for doing his housework.   
  
Following they hydrangeas there were Tulips. For fame or, as stated by Aeris in a hushed tone, a declaration of love. Sephiroth didn't know which one she meant if any. Then came Sunflowers, one of the weeds she allowed to live. Adoration and dedication. Following them a small white flower he had nearly forgotten. Gardenias. A secret love. He smiled as he pondered the growing message and realized he felt much the same.   
  
He went out to the garden. Aeris was with her brood of lilies. He moved over to the flourishing bushes with a flower whose fragrance he found quite pleasing. He picked off a branch with the small blooms and handed it too Aeris. Purple lilacs for the first love. She blushed but did not give it away.   
  
It would have been a perfect first kiss, sweet and pure like their quiet flirtations. Then she stiffened under his touch, just a brush against her shoulder. He pulled his arm away quickly, but his lips more slowly.   
  
"I'm sorry," Aeris whispered.   
  
"I'm not upset," Sephiroth said, "I know." She turned away in shame, but Sephiroth pulled her chin back up.   
  
"I wouldn't hurt you like the men before," Sephiroth said, "I'll wait for you. I'll wait for as long as it takes." For the moment the words were true. The memory of their first kiss would remain innocent and vivid in his mind. The soft feel of her lips against his and the smell of lilies in the air around them.   
  
Reality was not as kind and neither was Rufus ShinRa.   
  
Sephiroth won the war for him and Rufus repaid him by forcing him to a celebration where the brat would show off his General and his far too lavish house. Sephiroth's only consolation was that Aeris would be with him.   
  
It spiraled downwards from there.

* * *

It didn't take long for Sephiroth to realize he was one of the few that did not abuse his slaves. Rufus ShinRa himself offered several up to guests for whatever amusement they wanted. Sephiroth pointedly ignored the offer and made sure Aeris was by him at all times. The others were too leery for his comfort.   
  
Even then Aeris was petted and grabbed. All offenders were stopped by little more than glares from Sephiroth. He was a very powerful person. He didn't just lead battles, he won them. With his silent warnings and invisible leash on his own pretty slave, Sephiroth steadily became the odd man out. Instinct demanded that he leave and he obeyed, complaining of a headache. That usually worked for these stupid things.   
  
"Why leave when you have the cure for it right by your side," Rufus said. The idiot was halfway drunk by now.   
  
"I don't care for your public orgies," Sephiroth said, "They typically only worsen my condition." Rufus started giggling.   
  
"Performance anxiety?" Rufus tried, "No, wait. Small packaging!" Sephiroth decided Rufus was drunk enough that he could glare and get away with it.   
  
"That is none of your concern," Sephiroth said.   
  
"Have you not shown your girl a good time, general?" Rufus said. He snagged Aeris's wrist. Sephiroth could see she wanted badly to jerk it away, but didn't dare cause a scene. "Am I going to have to show her how it is done?" Aeris's eyes flicked to Sephiroth, pleading for help.   
  
"Unhand my slave, we are leaving," Sephiroth said.   
  
"No I don't think so," Rufus said, "You have a fine specimen here. It would be such a shame to let her go to waste like that." Sephiroth felt his eyes narrow. Rufus wasn't that drunk apparently. He made a motion of his head and Sephiroth felt himself being surrounded by Rufus's personal guard. He was a good fighter, but not even he could take out snipers on the roof.   
  
"I think we need a proper performance," Rufus said, "Either I fuck her or you do." Sephiroth glared at Rufus. He could feel Aeris trembling next to him and made his decision. He moved quickly before Rufus could make the situation any worse than it already was. Sephiroth had Aeris pinned against a table, her wrists trapped under one hand while he braced himself with the other.   
  
This was wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen this way. They were supposed to be at home, in his bed with the windows open so they could smell the garden. It was supposed to be soft and slow like the kisses they shared. He was supposed to make her comfortable before moving along. He was supposed to protect her. He was supposed to love her.   
  
Instead he forced himself to trail a hand down her torso. If he had even a smidgeon of sway he would have jerked himself to near completion before forcing himself on her. He had to get himself hard anyway. He was disgusted with himself with how easily it happened. He leaned down and trailed his tongue along her neck, stopping near her ear.   
  
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. Then he pulled up her dress. He heard her whimper at the action, but forced himself not to show mercy. He could feel the eyes on him. They wouldn't be satisfied until he had made a monster of himself. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He could smell the rose bush a few feet away.   
  
He pulled off what clothes weren't needed and nudged Aeris's legs apart. He didn't let go of her hands as he forced himself inside. Aeris's cry felt like a blade in his gut. He braced himself on her hip now and started moving. He bent back down to whisper an apology that meant nothing. If he was truly sorry, he would stop. Aeris tried desperately to choke back sobs, a reflex from a life Sephiroth promised he wouldn't force on her. Her hands were gripping the table with white knuckles.  
  
He was not gentle out of necessity. He wanted this to be over with as soon as possible. He could hear their pleased audience over the slapping of skin on skin. He could smell the roses. He could see Aeris in absolute agony because the person she loved was hurting her.   
  
He closed his eyes and tried to imagine how it was supposed to be, with Aeris pliant and willing. With them moving together in a passionate dance. With Aeris moaning in pleasure instead of pain. With that image he made himself come. 

He hated himself for it

* * *

She had nightmares. They weren't quite like that night. They were more of the alternative. The others--faceless, nameless others--would take their turns with her, while Sephiroth would be nowhere in sight. She'd wake up and realize that near the opposite had happened. Sephiroth had been the only one.   
  
He had disappeared from her sight. Where ever she would be, Sephiroth made sure he was not. She didn't know what she was more afraid of: not seeing Sephiroth ever again, or seeing him again after...  
  
He had put her to sleep on the way home and tucked her into her own room. Then he had gone into the garden. He hadn't destroyed it all. He only tore up all of her roses and threw his table and chair into the wall and smashed them. She left the roses be. They had never been her favorite anyway. She couldn't stand the sight of the poor furniture. She cleaned it up. After rummaging around she found things to fix them and put them back where they belonged. She pretended that nothing had changed and an imaginary Sephiroth would be sitting there while she worked.   
  
He wasn't sleeping either. She could hear him at night. She didn't know where he went during the day, while she did her duties and tended her garden. At night he emerged. She could hear him go into the backyard. She liked to think he sat in his chair and pretended to watch her garden.   
  
She knew he was not a vocal person. That was her reason for sending messages with flowers. It was a way he could communicate without the words he stumbled over. The problem was that there wasn't a flower for remorse.   
  
It didn't stop him. She began to find flowers at her door in the mornings. White lilies for purity or innocence. She didn't understand entirely what he meant. Was he trying to say he still thought of her as pure, as sweet? Was he asking if she felt the same? She began to find them in other places, places where she would be certain to find them: In the cabinets, in the pantry, one even tucked gently into the oven.   
  
She waited one night. Waited until he emerged from his room and his footsteps whispered past her door. Then she followed. She had seen the image in her mind so many times it didn't surprise her to find him at his table in her garden, simply staring out without truly seeing. She approached quietly, set a vase on the table and laid a trembling hand upon his shoulder.   
  
"I don't hate you," she said, "I've tried hard, but I can't make myself hate you. Part of me still loves you just the same." He didn't move.   
  
"I want you to know that I do forgive you," Aeris said, "You're the only person who's ever told me they were sorry. I believe you. I forgive you." She felt his hand gently cover hers on his shoulder.   
  
"You would love a monster?" he asked.   
  
"I would love you," she said. He was silent.   
  
"I'll wait forever this time," he said, "I do whatever you want me to do to prove that I love you."   
  
"I know," Aeris said. She bent down and gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek. They could smell the white lilies Aeris had saved in the vase next to them.

 


End file.
